Last night I went to the Craft Victoria seminar on market readiness, and I learned so much I though my brain was going to burst!

There were two speakers Penny Min Ferguson of MinPin and Leah Jackson of Leah Jackson Ceramics, a well as the person organising the event from Craft Victoria, Kim Goodwin. They all spoke well, clear, concise and open about their experiences and the tips they’ve learned from going to markets and building their businesses. Lots of guidance on having a successful market experiences - even if you don’t make money out of it…

To be honest, I knew a lot of this stuff - BUT I hadn’t been able to put it together in a coherent package enough for my tiny brain to see how it worked. But this seminar showed me, which was awesome! And they liked my tea towels - they have excellent taste.

I just need to decide what I really want my business to be. But I really need to thank the wonderful Aniquah Stevenson for her advice in doing this seminar, she is awesome and her work is great - check out her new website http://www.aniquahstevenson.com

Time for a tune, Hilary Cresp, 2016

In the last couple of weeks I’ve sent off a few illustration agency submissions and to a literacy agency. But I won’t hear from them anytime soon, they get hundreds of applications and it takes long time to view them, and they only get back to those they want to see more from. So we wait.

AND...mark the weekend of the 11-13 November in your calendars! ArtSpace8, where my studio is, is having and open studios with a group exhibition and market stalls (so I can put what I've learnt into practice), with new work on display and some product for sale. More details to come!

Anyway, I’ve been doing a lot of birdies lately…and one in particular got a bit of a run. I listen to a podcast called Stupidly Big - they do a segment called 'Shiver me Tingies' : what makes you feel good in a happy friendly way like, slipping into clean sheets or hearing the sound of a champagne cork pop. I was part way through making it when, they mentioned on the podcast that someone had already make them something. So I was in two minds as to sending it to them, but in the end I did - they loved it and (with my permission) made it their avatar for Twitter. YAY!

Shiver me tingies, Hilary Cresp, 2016

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